9.30.2007

The battle of Second River, fought in September 1777 in what is now Belleville, N.J.

Story courtesy The Belleville Times.

Skirmish of Second RiverIn September of 1777 there was an engagement which is most frequently referred to as the “Battle of Second River”. It is for this engagement that a memorial plaque has been erected in the park. The British intended to expand their invasion with a larger force in central Jersey. But first, they had to pass through Second River and beneath the old church tower.

Eyes in the tower saw the advance and sounded the alarm. Under the direction of Captains Hornblower, Joralemon, Rutgers and Rutan, a defense was prepared. Skirmishes went on for two days. It began with an artillery barrage of our town followed by musket and cannon battles in the streets.

Sending for reinforcements, the American troops valiantly held their ground and managed to damage British General. Sir Henry Clinton’s hilltop headquarters with a direct hit from a cannonball, which happened to be on what is now Franklin Ave. September 14th turned into an all-day pitched battle.

With patriot reinforcements pouring in from neighboring communities, front lines eventually took shape near to Mill Street and Union Avenue. The British forces, overwhelming in numbers, eventually broke through. But once again, the local militia had succeeded in delaying the advance and weakening the invading army.

A large boulder also rests at the fork in the road between Union and Franklin Avenues on Mill Street as a landmark to mark the spot where the final shots of the Battle of the Second River were fired. A bronze plaque was placed on the rock in 1932

9.26.2007

Private Charles Mc Ginty was killed in action on Sept. 29, 1918. He joined the Army from New Jersey. Pvt. Mc Ginty served with the 147th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Division. He is listed as Missing in Action or Buried at Sea on the Tablets of the Missing at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, Romagne, France.

9.15.2007

(November 30, 1944) -- Marine Sgt. William J. Mears, of Jefferson Street, was killed in action in Peleliu on Palau Islands in the South Pacific on Sept. 15.Mears enlisted in the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

During his tour he was cited as a demolitions expert. He was a veteran of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, New Britain and Bougainville during his 28 months overseas.

He was scheduled to return to the States to begin study at officer candidate school.

The Palue Islands in what is now the Republic of Palau, are in the westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands, north of Australia and west of Micronesia.

9.14.2007

(Nov. 30, 1944) -- Ship's cook 3/c Glenn C. Nelson, 21, missing since his ship-destroyer Warrington went down off the Virginia coast Sept. 12 in what was to be known as the Great Atlantic Hurricane of Sept. 14, 1944.Nelson enlisted in the Navy in August 1941.

9.10.2007

(Oct. 4, 1945) -- Sgt. Frank H. Metzler, 21, was presumed dead on Sept. 10, the War Dept. notified his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Metzler of Reservoir Place.Sgt. Metzler, a tail gunner on a Flying Fortress, had been overseas five weeks before being reported missing in Germany since March 8, 1944.

He is survived by his brother Pfc. Charles Metzler of the 1st Army who returned after 13 months in the infantry in Europe.